GT Capital sets IPO price at P455/share

MANILA, Philippines - GT Capital Holdings Corp., the investment vehicle of taipan George S.K. Ty, has firmed up its plan to debut on the Philippine Stock Exchange with an offering price of P455 per share – the upper end of the indicated price range – amounting to a total offer size of up to P21.6 billion.

The initial public offering (IPO) is priced at 13 times the holding firm’s 2012 price-to-earnings ratio.

The transaction is among the largest IPOs ever done in the Philippines, said Carmelo Bautista, president of GT Capital, adding that “the offering was extremely well received by global investors, with the international tranche more than five times oversubscribed.”

The IPO book was oversubscribed 5.6 times with a total of 100 investors (mostly sovereign wealth funds and prestigious long-term investors) subscribing to the issue. Half of the investors were from Asia, one-fourth from the US, and the other fourth from Europe.

“Despite the strong demand, we decided not to price at the top of the range, to leave investors with room for upside. Other than the overwhelming interest in GT Capital, this landmark transaction really highlights the new vote of confidence in the Philippine investment story among global investors,” said Alfred Ty, vice chairman of GT Capital.

UBS Philippines managing director Lauro Baja said the issue has emerged as one of the most successful IPOs in the country. UBS acted as sole global coordinator and international bookrunner.

“The deal will be remembered as one of the greatest IPOs in the Philippines. The exceptional response to GT’s IPO is a tribute to the Ty family, its management team and the solid businesses they have built throughout these years,” he said.

GT Capital is the primary vehicle for the management of the various interests of the Ty family in banking (Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co.), real estate (Federal Land), power generation (Global Business Power), automotive (Toyota Motor Philippines) and insurance (Phil AXA Life Insurance Corp.).

The holding firm is selling as much as 33 million shares while key shareholders Ausan Resources Corp., Grand Titan Capital Holdings and Titan Resources are offering up to 8.217 million shares to raise a maximum P18.75 billion.

In case of strong demand, GT Capital has approved an oversubscription option of as much as 6.182 million common shares worth P2.81 billion.

The money to be raised from the IPO will be used to accelerate key growth projects of the group’s property unit as well as to acquire additional stakes in its property and power businesses.

First Metro Investment Corp. will handle the domestic offer, comprising 30 or 40 percent of the total IPO shares. The offer period will run from April 10 to 16.

GT shares will begin trading on the Philippine Stock Exchange on April 20.